When I follow my boyfriend back to his hometown, I accidentally discover the wounds and scars all over his sister's body. Then, an old lady in the village tells me to flee as quickly as I can. This makes me shudder.

Before I can process what's happening, I run into my long-lost best friend at my boyfriend's uncle's house. The way my boyfriend looks at me becomes increasingly creepy…

We made the journey in the middle of winter.

First, we took a flight. Then, we transitioned to a train ride. One car ride later, we had to switch to a jeep instead. In the end, we had to walk for more than six miles to reach our destination.

Finally, my boyfriend, Anthony Hawthorne, and I stood before his house. I even hunched over with my hands clasped onto my knees while panting heavily. At the same time, I began studying Anthony's childhood home.

It wasn't as rundown as I thought. If anything, it looked like a regular farmhouse that seemed to have weathered some years.

I recalled the houses that were scattered across the area when I walked past them earlier. Honestly speaking, Anthony's childhood home was considered one of the better ones.

"Let's enter my home."

Anthony took my hand and led me into the farmhouse. As he walked, he called out, "Mom, I'm home! Look who's here with me!"

As soon as Anthony's voice rang out, someone dashed out of the farmhouse. She stopped before us in just a few steps.

"Oh! You're back, Ant! You're finally back! I've been waiting for you!"

It was a middle-aged woman who looked quite similar to Anthony. Her skin was all tanned because of the farm work she had been doing all year long.

This must be Anthony's mother.

I gulped nervously before forcing out a smile. "Hello, Mrs. Hawthorne! I'm Anthony's girlfriend, Roxanne Parson."

Mrs. Hawthorne's gaze landed on me. For a moment, I could feel chills traveling down my spine.

She smiled at me right away. "Ah! It's you, Roxy! Ant talks about you a lot! Oh my! It's so wonderful to see you here! Come in, then!"

As she spoke, she reached out to take my luggage from me as well.

I let out a sigh of relief, thinking that I must be imagining things due to exhaustion.

Once we entered the courtyard, I saw a young girl—perhaps in her teenage years—sitting under a roof. She happened to be patching up a shirt at that time. She didn't even bother raising her head when she heard us coming in.

I glanced at Anthony, albeit awkwardly. I didn't know whether or not I should greet that girl.

But Anthony didn't look at me. He didn't even glance at that girl. He kept chatting with Mrs. Hawthorne the whole time.

I just let out a small sigh before following the Hawthornes into the farmhouse. Before I did so, I tilted my head to glance at the girl again. That was when I made eye contact with her.

I couldn't help but shiver the moment I saw the girl's eyes. How could a human being's eyes be that cold and impassive?

"Roxy, come in and have some water! You must be thirsty, right?" Anthony's voice drifted from the farmhouse before I could dwell on the girl.

I quickly hurried into the farmhouse upon hearing Anthony's voice. After scanning the furniture in the farmhouse, I was surprised to see them all made of solid wood. As far as I knew, solid wood furniture was pretty expensive.

I already knew that Anthony came from a poor family a long time ago. He often told me how tough it was for Mrs. Hawthorne to raise him as well as how poor and undeveloped his backwater of a village was.

But based on the furniture, his family was definitely not poor at all.

I smiled faintly. Did Anthony fabricate his background just to make himself look more pitiful in front of me? How silly of him!

After we sat around for a few moments, Mrs. Hawthorne rose to her feet. She claimed that she'd get dinner prepared soon.

I stood up uneasily as well, but Anthony patted my hand with a smile. "You should rest. You must be tired from all the traveling, right? I'll help my mom with dinner. We'll be done in a while."

I loved how caring Anthony was, so I smiled and nodded at him.

After sitting in the living room for a while, I kept feeling a little awkward for not doing anything. I thought for a moment before exiting the farmhouse and joining the young girl. Then, I crouched down in front of her and smiled at her.

"Hi there."

The girl glanced at me without responding at all. She just kept patching the shirt up.

This made me feel a little awkward. Once again, I began studying her. She looked very skinny and frail, though her face was pretty cute. The clothes she wore didn't fit her frame at all. Not to mention, they were covered in patches.

I remembered how well-kept Anthony looked as well as the expensive-looking solid wood furniture in his farmhouse. Something seemed out of place, yet I couldn't really put my finger on it.

"Roxy, what are you two talking about?" Anthony asked me with a smile as he approached me and the girl.

I just smiled back awkwardly. "I wanted to greet her, but she never gave me the time of day."

Anthony glanced at the young girl. Then, he said coldly, "There's no need to pay attention to her. She's mute, so she can't speak."

I was surprised to hear Anthony's response. Then, I shot the girl a sympathetic look.

The girl raised her head to glance at us at that moment. Mockery flashed across her eyes momentarily before she lowered her head once again.

I turned to look at Anthony instinctively. But he didn't seem to have noticed the girl's expression. Instead, he took my hand and led me back to the farmhouse.

A while later, I asked softly, "Who is that girl, Anthony?"

Anthony hesitated for a moment. He then replied impatiently, "She's my little sister. She's been a little messed up in the head since young. You don't have to pay any attention to her.

"Let's head back into the farmhouse. Mom doesn't want me to help her with dinner. She wants me to spend more time with you instead."

Shock was all I felt at that moment.

Was that young girl really Anthony's sister? Based on how cold Anthony and Mrs. Hawthorne were to the girl, I thought she was just a neighbor or someone who wasn't on good terms with them.

As I studied Anthony's demeanor toward the young girl, doubt began to grow within me. To me, Anthony was a gentle and patient man who had a cheerful personality and loved to laugh a lot. In fact, he was exactly my cup of tea.

But now, the way he treated his own sister made me feel chills running down my spine.

When I turned around, I felt Anthony patting me on the head. He said to me with a smile, "Alright, don't overthink it. I'll fill you in on what exactly happened."

I nodded in response.

Anthony let out a sigh. "Fiona… That's my sister's name. To tell you the truth, she was pretty normal when she was a kid. But then she fell seriously ill to the point her brain was all toasted. Her throat was ruined as well.

"When she recovered from her illness, that was when she lost her marbles. Her temper tantrums were beyond terrible back then. If we didn't pay attention to where she was, she'd escape from home or beat some poor kid up.

"I needed to go to school, and my mom couldn't watch over Fiona all by herself. She had no choice but to lock Fiona up in her room or have her bound with ropes.

"A few years later, Fiona began picking up pieces of her sanity bit by bit. She no longer threw tantrums, but she became the way she is today."

Anthony sighed at the end of his explanation. He sounded very sincere the whole time.

I let out a deep sigh of my own. It seemed that I had wrongfully blamed Anthony this time. He and his mother had it tough in the past, after all.

Then again, Fiona's past was quite tragic. Poor girl.

Mrs. Hawthorne refused to let Fione eat at the same table with us during dinner. She claimed that Fiona was a sloppy eater and that it might ruin our appetite if we were to witness the way she ate.

I wanted to say something, but then I remembered I was just a guest in Anthony's home. Hence, I clamped up.

Maybe I was getting tired. Maybe there were other reasons at play, for I didn't have any appetite at all. I just picked at dinner. I was clearly not in the mood to eat.

After dinner, Mrs. Hawthorne hollered at Fiona to do the dishes.

Since this was my first time visiting Anthony's home, I didn't want to offer to help out with chores just yet. So, I didn't make a peep.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Hawthorne pulled Anthony to the side and began pelting him with questions.

After a few minutes of sitting around, I felt bad for watching Fiona entering and exiting the kitchen constantly while doing the chores. Hence, I got up and followed her into the kitchen.

By then, Fiona was doing the dishes in the kitchen with her sleeves all rolled up.

I asked softly, "Do you need a hand?"

Fiona seemed pretty startled by my question. The bowl that she was holding slipped from her hands and fell into the sink with a loud clatter.

A panicked expression appeared on her face as she waved at me hurriedly as a sign that she didn't need my help. She even backed away from me when she saw me approaching her.

My gaze fell onto Fiona's arms. Now that her sleeves were rolled up, I could see long red scars, both old and new, marring her arms.

The sight of the scars made my gaze darken slightly. I was about to approach Fiona and grab her arm to ask her what happened when I heard a voice coming from behind me.

"Roxy, what are you doing?" Anthony asked.

I froze on the spot.

Fiona quickly glanced at me before shaking her head at me. Then, she rolled down her sleeves rapidly in order to hide the scars. After that, she continued doing the dishes with her head lowered.

I looked away as well and opted not to say what I planned to say earlier. Instead, I turned around to smile at Anthony.

"I noticed that Fiona was doing the dishes on her own, so I asked her if she needed help. Maybe I startled her."

Fiona responded by cowering slightly at that moment. She hunched her back before raising her head to look at Anthony frightfully.

Anthony frowned. "You don't have to do that. Fiona's capable of doing these chores on her own. Besides, one must always occupy themselves with productive things to do in life."

Once he was done speaking, he grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the kitchen forcefully.

I turned around to glance at Fiona and noted the evident terror in her eyes. Then, I lowered my gaze. My uneasiness and anxiety were starting to escalate.

That night, I kept having nightmares, which made my sleep restless. As a result, I got up quite late the next morning.

It was eerily silent in the courtyard. As I approached the main wing of the farmhouse, I heard a conversation drifting from within the building.

"Have you contacted him?"

"Yeah. The meeting will commence right after the Wintermoon holidays."

"Excellent. Be careful, now. You've got to keep a close eye on that one."

I paused in my action of opening the door. My confusion and uneasiness grew even more after hearing the conversation. Out of instinct, I called out to Anthony right away.

Everything went silent momentarily in the main wing. Then, I heard Mrs. Hawthorne cursing under her breath impatiently.

"Damn it! Is she this silent whenever she walks?"

The door soon opened with a creak. Anthony's tense visage appeared right before my eyes.

"When did you get here?"

I suppressed the waves of uneasiness as I rubbed my eyes while whining coquettishly, "I just came. I heard someone talking in the house, so I called out to you."

"You heard our conversation?" Anthony's expression changed slightly.

I stared at him in confusion. "Nope. I heard your and Mrs. Hawthorne's voices, but I didn't know what you were talking about because of the dialect you used.

"Oh! Anthony, why don't you teach me how to understand the local dialect? Otherwise, I won't be able to understand a single thing everyone says here."

Anthony visibly relaxed. He was quick to drag me into the main wing of the farmhouse. "Alright. You can slowly pick up on the dialect in the future. Did you rest well last night?"

Once I entered the farmhouse, Mrs. Hawthorne approached me in a friendly manner. "Roxy, you must be hungry, right? I'll go warm the food up. We'll be able to have breakfast in a while. Anthony and I have been waiting for you, you know!"

As I looked at Mrs. Hawthorne, I began to wonder if I was just imagining the part about her cussing me out.

Anthony kept me company the whole time. When I told him to help his mother out, he tapped me on the nose with a chuckle.

"My mom said I mustn't neglect you since you came all the way here as an esteemed guest."

Left without a choice, I could only ask Anthony to go for a walk with me.

The air during winter time up in the North was often cold and dry. I could feel the stinging winds blowing down my neck constantly.

Anthony could only tighten the scarf around my neck. "It didn't really snow this year, but the air is still dry and cold. Let's just go on a quick walk before going home."

I nodded. "Okay. I just wanted to pop out for some fresh air because I felt too stuffy from staying indoors for way too long."

After walking down a small stretch of road, we saw an elderly woman carrying a woven basket on her hunched back while relying on a walking stick to walk down the road with great difficulty. She seemed to be carrying something in her free hand too.

Suddenly, the things she was carrying fell to the ground. Apples began rolling everywhere.

I hastened my steps in order to help pick up the apples for the old lady. Then, I turned to ask Anthony, "Anthony, why don't we carry everything home for the old lady?"

Anthony paused in his steps. Then, he walked over with a frown and called out to the old lady.

"Mrs. Hackett, why are you carrying such a big load? Let me carry the basket for you."

The moment he was done speaking, he reached out to take the basket from Mrs. Hackett's back.

Mrs. Hackett raised her head to glance at Anthony. "Ah, you're the Hawthorne kid."

She decided to take his offer by handing everything to him.

After I picked up all the apples, I placed them back into the plastic bag. Then, I said to Mrs. Hackett with a smile, "Mrs. Hackett, we'll walk you home. I'll carry this bag for you."

Mrs. Hackett eyed me up and down. She muttered under her breath, "What a cute darling. Such a shame that she's blind when it comes to men…"

My eyelid twitched at the comment. Still, I pretended to not understand a single word that Mrs. Hackett said as I turned to look at Anthony.

"Anthony, what did Mrs. Hackett say just now?"

Anthony's gaze darkened slightly, but he still forced a smile. "She was just complimenting your looks."

I shot him a bashful look while giggling softly. I decided to stay silent.

Mrs. Hackett's house was pretty close to where we were. Ten minutes later, we arrived at her house. It was a tiny, rundown brick house.

Mrs. Hackett had Anthony put the stuff in the eastern room. After that, she took my hand and pulled me into the kitchen while mumbling words of gratitude.

The kitchen was dimly lit. Almost immediately, I could feel chills running down my spine. At that moment, I had the urge to flee from the house.

Mrs. Hackett sat me down on a stool before taking a seat next to me. She murmured into my ear, "Run, lassie. Quick, escape."

Those words were spoken in proper Anglanish.

I was rendered shell-shocked by the warning. I was about to ask Mrs. Hackett what was going on when I saw her pouring out some warm water from the thermos flask.

As she poured, she murmured in the local dialect, "This lass is a kind-hearted one. I don't have much to offer… At the very least, I need to serve her some water to warm her up."

At that moment, Anthony entered the kitchen while flipping the curtains aside at the doorway.

I clenched my fists before rising to my feet and approaching Anthony quickly. "What did Mrs. Hackett say just now? I couldn't understand her at all."

Anthony seemed to have heaved a sigh of relief. "It's nothing. Mrs. Hackett was praising you for having a heart of gold. Let's go home."

"Okay." I nodded heavily before reaching out to tug at Anthony's sleeve.

Anthony said his goodbyes to Mrs. Hackett. He then took my hand and began leading me home. "Why is your hand so cold?"

"I'm so cold… I've never felt this cold before…" I said while sniffling.

Anthony chuckled at my predicament. "I told you not to leave the house, and yet you wouldn't listen. Now you know how cold it is out here, huh?"

I pouted. "Yeah, yeah. I wanna go back to my room and tuck myself into bed so that I can play on my phone all day. Winter here is way too cold. I have no idea how you managed to survive all these years!"

"You're just not used to the weather here. In the future, you'll get used to it. Take my mom, for example—"

"Hmm?" I tilted my head to look at Anthony.

But Anthony didn't continue elaborating. He just smiled at me. "Come on. Let's hurry up and go home."

Although he had been holding my hand the whole time, I couldn't feel any warmth coming from him. My heart felt colder than the current weather right now.